Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

Words: 770
Pages: 4

The aftermath of the Salem Witch Trials was devastating, with 19 innocent Puritans hanged and 5 dying in jail due to harsh conditions. Many theories have been proposed to explain the calamity, but Ergotism is widely regarded as the main cause of the hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts during the trials. This was caused by consuming rye, a staple food source during that period. Ergot is a fungus that grows on grain and can cause horrifying symptoms, including hallucinations, muscle spasms, vomiting, and gangrenous pain where the victim's limbs were “eaten up by the holy fire that blackened like charcoal.” (Plants, 2024). There are two types of ergotism: gangrenous and convulsive. Gangrenous ergotism leads to extremities such as the falling off …show more content…
Without moisture, ergots cannot grow. The affliction of the girl would not have been able to be timed. The girls could not have predicted when the outburst of their symptoms would occur. There would be no way that all the girls could synchronize their outbursts during the trials in the courthouse. According to The Crucible: The Common Misconception, “Wild rye grows in New England, and in 1692 it was a crop that was grown in the Salem Villages. It was used as a primary food source in the winter months.” The weather needed to be ideal for ergot to grow. The spring of 1691 had this ideal weather. This was displayed throughout the summer as well. Rye is more likely to grow in swampy areas in the west, which is exactly where the Putnam’s lived (Caporael, 1976). In 1691 there was a shortage of food supply so they had to save what they had to have food for the winter. They saved the rye because it was the main source of food that they had. They used the rye grain to make flour, which was then used to make bread. The ergot that grew on the flour then replaced the grain in the bread with a bundle of infections that contained ergot